Western Union announced the launch of a real-time cross-border payments integration in India through that country's Unified Payments Interface, a real-time payments system developed by the National Payments Corp. of India, according to a company release. 

Western Union customers from around the world will be able to make real-time payments to individual bank accounts in India using the recipient's UPI ID instead of a bank account and routing number. 

"We are expanding from our roots of creating one of the largest physical money movement networks covering the first and last mile in India to pioneering integration with India's advanced real-time payment systems," Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek said on a recent visit to India, according to the company. 

Western Union also announced the launch of its WU.com digital platform in India under an agreement with Yes Bank. Customers will be able to transfer funds from their bank accounts into bank accounts in other parts of the world.